Toyota Etios sedan gets rebadged as Perodua Jaguh in Malaysia

Posted on Jul 28 2013 - 8:03pm IST

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Meet Perodua Jaguh, the rebadged Toyota Etios sedan which will soon be launched in Malaysia.

To start with, Perdua, established in 1992, is Malaysia’s second largest automaker after Proton. Toyota’s subsidiary Daihatsu Motor owns a 35% stake in Perdua and that’s the Japanese connection to this story.

Perodua, which mainly uses Daihatsu components for its products, specializes in mini cars and is not present in the same market segments as Proton. This wise strategy has enabled Perodua to maintain about 30% market share in Malaysia. Last year, the car maker had sold around 1,89,000 units which is the highest annual sales in its history.

The Jaguh will come with a free three-year warranty as disclosed by this brochure scan.

The Perodua Jaguh, the rebadged Etios sedan, is the next model waiting to be launched. Here’s a leaked brochure scan which comes courtesy of Theophiluschin.com.

Except the grill, logo and the alloy wheel design there is absolutely no change whatsoever to its body. An image of the car’s rear is unavailable but we don’t expect any significant difference there or to the car’s interior which was redone recently with new front seats, an updated music system and new door trims.

Perodua have changed the Etios’ grille, logo and wheels to make it a Jaguh.

As far as the powertrain goes, the 1.5 litre petrol engine that powers the Etios sedan in India is a likely candidate. The motor produces 90PS and 132 Nm of torque and is mated to a 5-speed manual transmission.

If the Perodua Jaguh is assembled in Malaysia, the CKD kits are most likely to be shipped from India as the car isn’t manufactured in the RHD configuration except by TKM in the Bidadi plant. Toyota manufactures the Etios in Brazil, but with a LHD dashboard and flex fuel engines it is specifically made for regional consumption.

Toyota India is currently exporting the Etios to South Africa and Zimbabwe as a CBU and the Perodua Jaguh could be its first overseas CKD assignment.

As a toddler, those wheeled machinery fascinated me even before I knew what they’re called as! So here I'm, petrolhead by birth, Mechanical engineer by qualification and automotive reporter by profession!

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anu

fake…..

Tok Kok

Please look closer on the brochure
Sliding seats on the re-badged Etios?

Will

Daihatsu Japan and another Japanese partner owns 51% of Perodua car and engine manufacturing and assembly company. As for the holding company of Perodua, Daihatsu Japan owns 20% of the holding company and 5% through Daihatsu Malaysia.

Your statement about the vehicle not having a RHD is inaccurate. Even though the sedan is not manufactured in RHD, but it shares parts with the Etios Liva hatch, aka Etios Valco in Indonesia, which is a RHD vehicle.

Nothing is certain yet, especially about the details of this car, ie local content percentage, engine code, etc. Perodua might use a different 1.5L engine, like the 3SZ-VE, which is 109PS and 141Nm. The NR engine is a non VVTI, weaker Toyota specific engine, the former is a joint developed engine with Daihatsu and currently built in-house.

So, the higher possibility is to use the 3SZ-VE because Perodua models have high local content, and if you notice the scanned brochure’s bottom, there is a DVVT system in the engine of this model. That means the engine most probably be 3SZ-VE. As for the CKD kit, like I mentioned, Perodua is a high local content car company. I think the dashboard, interior, seats, etc would all be different, minus the external body panels. Even the doors are different, using a grip handle. The transmission most probably from India. Besides, kit imported from non Asean region would have higher taxes.

It might also be introduced as a 1.3L DVVT using K3-VE engine, as the competitor, the Proton Saga has a 1.3L engine too, and also as a product positioning within Perodua stable. They would not cannabilize the best selling Myvi hatch. Maybe it would be introduce as a 1.3L high spec variant only, to sit between Myvi 1.3 and Myvi 1.5 variant. The Myvi 1.5L might get replace with another Toyota 1.5L model, something like 4th gen Toyota Yaris to further differentiate produce. Anything can happen. Just my 2 cents.